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Latin · Treatises ·

Libellus De Fidei

Phoebaudus Aginnensis Episcopus · ogl-pl

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machine-draft · no human review 2 passages · 492 words

Work dossier · summary and historical context

Summary

The 'Libellus De Fidei' is a Latin treatise on orthodox Trinitarian faith, traditionally attributed to Phoebaudus of Agen (4th century). It defends Nicene theology against Arian subordinationism, employing creedal affirmations and negations. The work survives in a single late medieval manuscript tradition, with the earliest witness from the 9th century. Its dating is uncertain, but internal references to mid-4th-century Arian controversies suggest composition between ca. 360 and 380. The text was cited by later Gallic synods, such as the Council of Orange (529), as a patristic authority on the Trinity, and appears in Carolingian florilegia. Attribution to Phoebaudus is traditional but disputed; some scholars assign it to an anonymous Gallic author.

The 'Libellus De Fidei' is a rare Gallic witness to 4th-century Nicene theology, bridging Eastern conciliar definitions and Western Latin expression. It was later used as a patristic authority in Gallic synods and Carolingian collections, influencing medieval Trinitarian doctrine. Its disputed authorship and fragmentary transmission highlight the challenges of reconstructing early Christian literary traditions.

Historical context

The 'Libellus De Fidei' was likely composed in Gaul during the mid- to late 4th century, a period of intense Trinitarian controversy following the Council of Nicaea (325). The work reflects the struggle between Nicene orthodoxy, which affirmed the Son's consubstantiality (homoousios) with the Father, and various Arian or semi-Arian positions that subordinated the Son. Phoebaudus, bishop of Agen, was a known Nicene supporter who participated in the Council of Rimini (359). The treatise's creedal structure echoes the Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed but expands on Trinitarian theology. The manuscript tradition is sparse: the earliest surviving witness dates from the 9th century, and the text was transmitted through Carolingian florilegia and cited by the Council of Orange (529). Scribal interpolations are possible, especially in doctrinal passages. The attribution to Phoebaudus rests on a single medieval manuscript heading and is not universally accepted; some scholars posit an anonymous Gallic author.

Apparatus · what the pipeline recorded

Annotation and terms

11 commentary units 2 structure2 term2 scripture2 background2 reception1 caution 0 derived notes 3 open questions 2 narrative
What the kinds mean

Pipeline notes

  • coverageNo English translation could be identified: a language model asked twice could not name one, though it could not rule one out either. That is not proof that none exists — translations in dissertations, recent books and other modern languages are easily missed.
  • limitThe English is a machine draft produced passage by passage from the transcribed Coptic; no human has verified it. The commentary is model-written and cites only keys the pipeline could resolve.
  • registerRegister: treatise in Latin; the English keeps the liturgical formulae and the vocatives rather than normalising them.
  • structurePassages: 2 narrative.
  • sourceSource edition: ogl-pl — Available under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License

Term index

CopticRenderingCountFirst
no glossary terms recorded
tmp352.tmp352.opp-lat1:1 · narrativehigh
Source
III. LIBELLUS FIDEI. Credimus a unum Deum, Patrem omnipotentem, et unum unigenitum Filium ejus Deum et Dominum Salvatorem nostrum, et Spiritum sanctum Deum: non tres Deos Patrem et Filium et Spiritum sanctum, sed unum Deum esse confitemur. Non sic unum Deum, quasi solitarium, nec eumdem, qui ipse sibi Pater sit, ipse et Filius; sed Patrem verum, qui genuit Filium verum, ut est Deus de Deo, lumen de lumine, vita ex vita, perfectum de perfecto, totum a toto, plenum a pleno; non creatum, sed genitum; non ex nihilo, sed ex Patre, unius substantiae cum Patre: e Spiritum (??)ero sanctum Deum, non ingenitum, neque genitum; non creatum, nec factum; sed Patris et Filii, semper in Patre, et Filio coaeternum. Veneramur tamen unum Deum: quia ex uno Patre totum quod Patris est, natus est Filius Deus; et in Patre totum quod inest, totum genuit Filium. Pater Filium generans non minuit, nec amisit plenitudinis suae deitatem: totum autem i quod Deus Pater est, id esse et Filium ab eo natum, certissime tenentes. Cum Spiritu sancto unum Deum piissime confitemur Jesum Christum Dominum nostrum, Dei Filium, per quem omnia facta sunt, quae in coelis et quae in terra, visibilia et invisibilia: propter nostram salutem descendit de coelo; qui numquam desierit esse in coelo: natus de Spiritu sancto ex virgine Maria. Verbum caro factum non amisit quod fuerat, sed coepit esse quod non erat.
English
III. A Little Book on the Faith. We believe in one God, the Father almighty, and one only-begotten Son of his, God and Lord our Savior, and the Holy Spirit, God: we confess not three Gods, Father and Son and Holy Spirit, but one God. We do not affirm one God as if solitary, nor the same one who is himself Father, himself also Son; but a true Father, who begot a true Son, as God from God, light from light, life from life, perfect from perfect, whole from whole, full from full; not created, but begotten; not from nothing, but from the Father, of one substance with the Father: and the Holy Spirit, God, not unbegotten, nor begotten; not created, nor made; but of the Father and the Son, always in the Father, and coeternal with the Son. Yet we venerate one God: because from one Father, everything that is of the Father, the Son God was born; and in the Father, everything that is in him, everything begot the Son. The Father, in begetting the Son, did not diminish nor lose the fullness of his divinity: holding most certainly that everything which God the Father is, that also the Son born from him is. With the Holy Spirit we most piously confess one God, Jesus Christ our Lord, the Son of God, through whom all things were made, which are in the heavens and which are on earth, visible and invisible: for our salvation he descended from heaven; who never ceased to be in heaven: born of the Holy Spirit from the virgin Mary. The Word made flesh did not lose what it had been, but began to be what it was not.
tmp352.tmp352.opp-lat1:2 · narrativehigh
Source
j Non demutatum sed permanentem etiam hominem natum, non putative, sed vere; non aerium, sed corporeum; non pha(??)tasticum, sed carneum; ossa, sanguinem, sensum et animam habentem; ita verum Deum et verum hominem intelligimus: ita verum hominem verum Deum fuisse nullo modo ambigimus. Confitendum est hunc cumdem Dominum nostrum Jesum Christum adimplesse legem et prophetas, passum sub Pontio Pilato, crucifixum secundum Scripturas, mortuum et sepultum secundum Scripturas, tertia die a mortuis surrexisse, assumptum in coelos, sedere ad dexteram Patris; inde venturum judicare vivos et mortuos exspectamus. In hujus morte et sanguine mundatos remissionem peccatorum consecutos; resuscitandos nos ab eo in his corporibus et in eadem carne qua nunc sumus; sicut et ipse in eadem carne qua natus est el passus et mortuus, resurrexit: et animas cum hac carne vel corpora nostra ab eo, aut vitam aeternam, praemium boni meriti, aut sententiam pro peccatis aeterni supplicii recepturos.
English
Not changed but remaining, and also man born, not putatively but truly; not airy but corporeal; not phantasmic but fleshy; having bones, blood, sensation, and a soul: thus we understand him to be true God and true man: thus we in no way doubt that he was true man and true God. It must be confessed that this same our Lord Jesus Christ fulfilled the law and the prophets, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified according to the Scriptures, died and was buried according to the Scriptures, rose from the dead on the third day, was taken up into heaven, sits at the right hand of the Father; we expect him to come from there to judge the living and the dead. By his death and blood we have been cleansed and have obtained remission of sins; we are to be raised up by him in these bodies and in the same flesh in which we now are; just as he himself rose again in the same flesh in which he was born and suffered and died: and our souls with this flesh or our bodies are to receive from him either eternal life, the reward of good merit, or a sentence of eternal punishment for sins.
Citation. Tergwame, “Libellus De Fidei”, tmp352.tmp352.opp-lat1:1, machine-draft, 2026. https://naxiai.com/christian/works/tmp352.tmp352.opp-lat1#s1
Colophon. Source: ogl-pl · licence: Available under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License · model: deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash:floor · provider: Relace · cost: $0.0018 · generated 2026-11-15.